India beat Australia in the first One-Day International by 26 runs and it seems Australian captain Steve Smith is back to what he does best, that is cribbing and making excuses. At the press conference, just after the match, Smith said that it was tough to get used to two new balls in a span of 21 overs and that is what cost them the match. But it seems, his reason did not go down well with the Indian spinner Yuzvendra Chahal who bagged 3 wickets in the match and was the pick of the Indian bowlers.

Countering the Australian skipper, Chahal said, “If they would have won then they could have said that (two new balls) were a plus point because the ball came on nicely to the bat.”

Adding further he said, “Our minus point was that we had to bowl 10 overs each with a new ball. We bowled well, so whether it’s a new or old ball, it doesn’t matter. Australia had an advantage in the 20-over game because the rule was not for a 20-over game and the extra fielder was always in the inner circle. But the plus (for India) was that the wicket was turning and the way our medium-pacers bowled at the start helped us put pressure on them from the very beginning. We never allowed them to get into the game.”

We (both him and Kuldeep) go by the situation and since both of us are attacking bowlers, we go for wickets. Depending on the match situation, we look at things. If he bowls first, I tell him where the ball is spinning from and how we can get him out.

Hardik Pandya was the pick of the Indian batsmen in the first ODI, scoring an astonishing 83 off 66 balls. The second ODI takes place in Kolkata and India will look to take a 2-0 lead.